"Are the Iwagakure forces… coming here to die?"
Hanzō stared at the massive Iwa army charging toward him, baffled. Even counting generously, their numbers were only around a thousand. Meanwhile, Ame alone fielded nearly three thousand troops—and that wasn't even including him.
He refused to believe Iwagakure would act so foolishly.
"All units, fall back!"
"Kan, Hattori—you two take over command. I'll go ahead and see what kind of trick Iwagakure is trying to pull."
"Yes!"
The two immediately disengaged from command and ordered the retreat.
"To be safe…"
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
The moment he created a shadow clone, Hanzō himself sank into the ground using Earth Style, while the clone charged straight toward the Iwa forces.
Before long, the Iwagakure troops spotted Hanzō sprinting toward them.
"Quick—Hanzō of the Salamander is here!"
The Iwa commander shouted in panic.
"Hurry, release the seal!"
"Retreat—retreat!"
He knew exactly what this mission meant the moment he received it. His entire unit had been designated expendable. But refusal was never an option.
Now that Hanzō seemed to sense something off and deliberately slowed his advance, the commander seized the chance.
"Run! Now—run while you still can!"
As the Sealing Team released a colossal object covered in talisman tags, the commander frantically urged his men to flee.
No one really understood what was happening, but when the commanding officer said run, they ran. After all, nobody wanted to die.
That thing is… Akuta!!
The white mask. The earth-toned body. The wildly flailing tendrils.
Hanzō recognized it instantly.
Wasn't this thing only supposed to appear in the future? How is it here already?
So it existed much earlier… Ōnoki must've been behind it.
Even from a distance, Hanzō could feel the chakra radiating from the talisman-covered monster. It was vastly different from what he remembered.
The Iwa forces had already retreated. He had no time to concern himself with cannon fodder now.
Still sealed… then I strike first.
The creature remained immobilized, but the talismans on its body were already starting to burn away. Its eyes slowly began to move.
If that's all you've got, this is naïve.
Hanzō wasn't about to give an enemy time to wind up.
In the next instant, he condensed all his chakra into his feet and vanished at full speed.
Just as the final talisman burned away and Akuta's claws began to move, Hanzō reappeared beside it in a flash. His sickle carved out a white arc of light—
—and severed its neck.
He leapt back immediately.
The seal fully shattered. Tendrils lashed violently from its back as a savage roar shook the battlefield.
Hanzō silently counted.
Three.
Two.
One.
Snap.
With the sound of a finger snap, the Akuta's head slid cleanly off.
For a brief second, the creature seemed confused—its vision abruptly altered. Then a shriek tore out from the severed head lying on the ground.
The headless body finally registered the pain. Its tendrils flailed wildly, balance lost, and it crashed to the earth.
Chakra erupted violently from the corpse, blasting dust and debris into the air.
"Iwagakure sent this to deal with me?"
Hanzō frowned.
Compared to its future version counterpart, this version possessed vastly greater chakra and presence.
And yet—
It still died in a single strike.
But at that moment, the uncontrolled corpse reacted.
All of its tendrils suddenly condensed beams of light. Not one—every single one. Each bore a growing white point.
"Particle Style!"
Hanzō recognized it instantly.
"Six simultaneous Particle Style attacks?!"
Even he found that unbelievable. He was certain Ōnoki himself couldn't pull that off.
The beams fired—but due to either pain or pure instinct, the wildly thrashing tendrils sent the attacks spraying harmlessly into the distance. Hanzō didn't even move.
Still, cold sweat ran down his spine.
If I hadn't acted decisively… even this shadow clone would've had trouble finishing it.
It has no reason—just indiscriminate destruction. No wonder the Iwa forces ran after luring me here.
Suddenly—
The monster froze.
All its chakra surged toward its core.
Hanzō's eyes widened.
"…Damn it!"
A white cube detonated outward from the creature's center, instantly disintegrating everything within hundreds of meters.
Even Hanzō's true body underground broke into a cold sweat. Earth Style was far slower beneath the surface—had he been any closer, that would've been the end.
The shadow clone gasped nearby—not from exhaustion, but sheer fright.
Lesson learned. Never relax until the enemy is confirmed dead.
Hanzō recognized the technique.
Particle Style: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu
Ōnoki's ultimate move—the one that erased Madara's twenty-five Wood Clones and Deep Forest Emergence in a single strike.
And this creature's final attack… carried comparable power.
Something this dangerous gets reduced to fodder in Boruto? Ridiculous…
The clone dispelled. Hanzō returned to the surface, wiping sweat from his brow. The feedback made his heart race.
The battlefield now bore a perfectly cubic crater—every trace of soil inside it erased.
If Iwagakure mass-produces these things…
He recalled Boruto's era—Ōnoki churning them out like tools.
If they realize this is viable during wartime…
His head began to ache.
Still, the cost must be enormous. But in war, if it means victory, they won't hesitate.
At least this will make the other villages wary of Iwagakure. That eases some pressure on Ame.
Hanzō let out a long sigh.
'Good thing I sensed something off and didn't bring the army with me… otherwise, that Particle Style would've wiped them all out.'
'Let Iwagakure be the benchmark. Let me see just how deep the Five Great Villages' foundations truly run when faced with extinction.'
What Hanzō didn't know was that Kakuzu had already nearly been killed by the revived first three Tsuchikage—and that Rōshi, wielding the Heart Stone, could temporarily reach Kage-level strength by controlling a Tailed Beast.
In a moment of desperation, Iwagakure had forcibly assembled three Kage-tier combatants.
The Kumogakure side needs to hurry…
Nothing's gone wrong over there, right?
---
At Kumo...
Inside the Raikage Tower.
The Third Raikage slammed his desk, fury blazing in his eyes.
"Those damned Iwa bastards—do they really think we won't hit back?!"
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